Tika Is a Good Girl/Jake Propels Himself/Cancer Lives On/The Next Thurber

Tika was a very good girl in class yesterday. Got all of her contacts. Ran off only once, and I knew I didn't have her attention when I put her at the start line, and I was dumb and should have gotten her long leash for that attempt. But she did come back fairly quickly instead of running off to the far side. Didn't grab my feet at all, but I'm also trying to make sure she gets some kind of reward when I screw up (which, unfortunately, *I* was doing a lot) instead of making her frustrated.

But she still doesn't walk nicely on a leash! Jeez, it's always back to square 1. Maybe I should just tie her in a cart and pull the cart...nah, pulling stuff is bad for my back.

Jake's back seems to have been doing fine all week. I've been tossing squeakies for him on the ground, not too far, but he still propels himself to them at rocket speed and lands on them full force. So I've been trying to toss them directly in front of him so he can just grab them in the air without jumping or scooping.

We don't have agility this weekend, so that's good for resting up.

I keep getting email from people who find Remington's cancer site on the web and write to say thanks for having the information and the story. So many dogs-- so sad. Worst are the ones who've had more than one dog with hemangiosarcoma. Sucks sucks sucks. I don't know what I'd do.

Just read a wonderful compilation of Thurber dog stories, articles, and notes. Wish I could write like that. I've been thinking for years about how to write the story of *my* dogs in a way that would entertain. I can do it, I know I can. --I think I can. --I might be able to. --Next week. --Or later.

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